The Reflections series synthesizes lessons from past evaluations to support organizational learning about what works and what doesn't. Based on evidence from 49 evaluations and case studies issued by the UNDP, UN Women and UNFPA, this paper identified five lessons on navigating gender backlash:

1. Institutionalizing safeguards: Successful interventions anchored gender equality in statutory obligations and budgetary processes. 
2. Monitoring backlash: Institutions were better able to mitigate gender backlash when monitoring tools helped identify emerging resistance early.
3. Anticipating the cost of empowerment: Resilience against backlash was strongest where projects integrated anticipatory risk analysis and actively implemented and adapted mitigation measures as resistance emerged.
4. Strategic reframing: Reframing gender equality around national priorities secured political entry points.
5. Safety in numbers: Gender backlash was most effectively managed not through isolated advocacy, but through multi-stakeholder and intersectional alliances.